


No Strings Attached

by Toaster_Strudel



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Nara Shikamaru, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Confused Nara Shikamaru, Domestic Fluff, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Kakashi adopts another kid, Kankurou is a little shit, Nara Shikamari is a good bro, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Protective Hatake Kakashi, References to Depression, Uzumaki Naruto is a Good Friend, rock lee is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-12-26 15:59:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18285572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toaster_Strudel/pseuds/Toaster_Strudel
Summary: Nibui is a Ninja from the land of snow. Her and her team, as well as her little brother,  travel the long way to the land of fire to take the chunin exams. There she meets Many different people and some who take in her warped personality easily. Her interests, however, are focused on a particular Puppet wielding Sand ninja. Someone from somewhere the complete opposite of her.





	1. Set Sail

The house was quiet, as it always was. The air around was dark and still. No sounds made it in from the outside. The land itself was quiet, Snow acted as a wonderful insulation against sound, and this being the land of snow, there was plenty if not an abundance of insulation. The quiet broke with the sound of wood creaking against the nails that held it together. Soft footsteps padded along, moving out from one room and into a hall. The wood boards shifting slightly under the weight. Stopping at a closed door, there was the clink of a knob before the door moved inward to the room, sounding with a soft ‘swoosh’.

White pupils landed on the bundle of blankets on the bed. The cloud covered light pouring into the room, giving the dark house an even more dull and grey look to it. Through the window there next to the bed, was a long widespread sight of flat snow land. No footprints of any animals to be seen, even though not a hundred feet away, the pine tree forest line started to the left of the house. Hand still on the knob as she stood in the doorway, Nibui, the owner of this house closed her black eyes and let a sigh escape her, hissing past her teeth and lips in a small puff, shoulders dropping slightly in the process before moving forward. Striding to the bed, she stopped at its edge, looking down at it for a moment before bending to place her hands against the mattress.

“Chasa, wake up. We need to leave in three hours. Up, up.” Her voice was raspy and airy in the soft of the morning, just up from sleep herself. The bundle of blankets moved, tumbling and shifting around until a nest of dark brown hair popped out, followed by a set of dull yellow squinting eyes. Blinking blearily up at her, a hand came to rub at them before a soft squeaking sound came. Moving to sit up, the blankets pooled around his hips as he continued to rub at his eyes. 

Chasa, Nibui’s little brother of eight years old, turned to look up at her with a sour face, eyes narrowed as he smacked his tongue around his mouth. Letting out a huff, Nibui shoved off of the bed, hands sinking into the mattress before falling to her sides. “Get up, I'll make breakfast while you get ready.” She leaned forward a bit, hand coming up to plop on top his rat's nest of a head like a wet spider web before pressing down, ruffling his already messy hair up even more.

The croaked out squawk she received, in turn, made her smile, the lines of her teeth coming into play, it could be described as something similar to that of a lazy Cheshire grin. The dark bags under her eyes executing this lazy and tired feature. Pulling her hand back as her little brother swatted at it, she moved to turn. Backtracking the way she came, she strode from his room and into the hallway. Only this time she changed course. Passing her own room, she made it to the end of the hallway, stepping down the three steps there before entering the main living space.

It was open, looking much more like a cabin than a house. Benches along the walls, a table to the left, that lead into a small cooking area, and to the right the front door. There were rugs and furs and skins laying on the floor, and along the back of benches. Moving to the left, Nibui came to the cooking space, picking up a glass lantern and a stick, she lit the stick on the stove, before placing it in the glass cylinder. Waving the stick around in one hand, the flame went out, and swirls of smoke took its place, curling and coiling through the air before she set it down, next to the stove once more. Turning her attention back to the lantern, she brought her free hand up and turned a knob on the side, causing the flame on the inside to grow significantly, lighting up the living and cooking space around her. 

Lifting it up, she placed it on a hook that hung over her head, moving onto the tips of her toes to reach it. She was tall for her age, and so things tended to be high hung around the house to avoid head hitting accidents. Allowing her hands to come back down to her sides, she set out to move to the cool box. Opening it, she reached in with one hand while the other held the top open. Her fingers touched onto the tub she wanted and she plucked it out of the icebox.

Bending back, she let go of the top and let it snap back down with a loud sharp thud. Holding the tub by its handle, she moved to set it on the still lit stove, the flames sparking up a bit as she did so. The container was made of metal, though the top was made of plastic. Popping the lid off, she set it off to the side and bent a bit to crank the heat on the stove up. I was leftover soup. She always made big batches, reheating and freezing was the easiest thing to do and made it less hard pressing to continuously buy new things for small meals. Just buy and cook in bulk and then freeze it and you are good for a while.

While the block of soup started to slowly melt, Nibui moved to the cabinets over top of the stove, reaching up and swinging one open, she plucked two bowls from their place, before swinging it shut. Turning, she made her way to the small, four-person table and set the two bowls down. Returning to the cooking space, she bent down to a drawer next to the stove and plucked two spoons up. Repeating what she had with the bowls, she moved for the kettle, snatching it off of the stove, and moving out of the cooking and dining space, across the living room, and to the front door.

Placing her side to it, she grabbed the handle, before batting her hip and shoulder into the plank of wood. It swung open maybe about a foot before she had to repeat. The snow buildup was always a pain in the butt. The cold crisp breeze slapped her across the face. If she was not awake before, she most certainly was now. Bending down to sit on her heels, her legs bent and her feet moved to stand on her toes. Grabbing the snow right there on the front of her step, as white as a winter rabbit, she stuffed handfuls of the crystallized water into the pot, before deeming it full enough.

Standing, she waved her snowy wet hand, shaking the slush off of it before coiling it into the fabric of her shirt to dry it off and get rid of the numbness nipping into her fingers. Turning, she stepped back into the house and tugged the door shut behind her, a light dusting of snow swirling around in behind her before settling on the floor and slowly melting. Striding back to the stove, Nibui placed the kettle down on the space next to the other pot and bent slightly to turn the knob, lighting this other space to melt and heat the snow so she could make tea. Once again it would be mint. She had gathered the supplies for mint tea in their own forest only months ago, they had dried and worked wonderfully.

Once that was settled she moved for the two mugs, and set them onto the table as well, before moving out of the space and back up the three steps into the hallway that held both her and her brother's room, along with the bathroom on the opposite side. Stepping into her room, she tugged at the much too large for her sweater, throwing the dark blue piece of clothing to the bed before doing the same with her padded pajama pants. The cool air hit her and she shivered and rubbed lightly at her bare skin, far too used to it by now to really be all that bothered by it.

Moving to her dresser, she pulled the top left drawer open. Tugging out a sports bra, and underwear, she slipped them both on. The dark grey-blue color contrasting with her milky white skin. Shutting the drawer, she moved to the nex tone. This time, she pulled out a pair of thick off-white cotton pants and bent down to slide them on. The ends of the leg holes held tight to her ankles to prevent snow from getting in, along with the waistband. Next, she moved to the drawer right beside that one, pulling out an off creme colored turtleneck under armor shirt. Tugging it on, she sighed as she was covered once more, the turtleneck acting as a sort of second skin to slap the chill away and be a protective layer against sharp knives.

Next, to that in the same drawer, she pulled out a baggy cotton shirt in a dark, grey-blue and tugged it over her head, threading her arms through the sleeves and tugging the hem down, she fiddled till it was comfortably in place. Closing both drawers, she moved back to the top, pulling one open and pulling out a pair of toe and heel bared socks. Moving to her bed she sat and threaded her feet into them, making sure to keep her pants tucked inside them. They reached just under her knee and supported the tall boot sandals that she wore.

Standing once again, she brought her hands up to her hair and ran her fingers through the short cut aggressively as she strode to her small nightstand. Grabbing onto a pair of big, round, dark shades, she unfolded them and slid them onto her face. Resting them on the bridge of her nose, she pushed them up a bit with a finger before turning to walk into the hallway again. The rustling from inside the bathroom indicated that Chasa had gotten up. Thank god.

The high whining whistle of the tea kettle slowly started to die down, and as Nibui strode down the three steps, she made her way to the stove, lifting the kettle up and off of the open flame, she moved to set it on the wooden counter top, where there were many burn marks from doing just this. Nabbing a small packet from against the backsplash, Nibui flipped the lid to the kettle up, steam flooding up. Leaning back to avoid the heat from hitting her face and fogging up her glasses, she dropped the small little bag in, before closing the lid once again. Picking it up, she moved to set it on the middle of the table before going back to the stove.

Sliding the drawer open, she picked up a wooden spoon, before going back over to the soup pot. Jabbing the wooden spoon down into the top chunk of ice, it cracked and split to show a slush underneath. Humming, she tapped the top of it a couple more times before sliding it in and swirling it around a couple of times before tapping the spoon off and setting it off to the side. Leaning back away from the stove, she looked at the steps that led back into the dark hallway. “Neh Neh Neh, Chasa you have fifteen more minutes before its eat time.” Her voice held more volume, though it was just as raspy as before. Maybe it was the cold she grew up in that made it this way, who knew.

Moving to the side, she grabbed a small stack of folded cloth in one hand, and a small jar of honey in the other. Bringing them to the table she slapped both of them down next to the pot before making sure everything was in order. Her head turned to the steps once again as a grumbled out reply came to her. Chasa’s voice was still very heavy with sleep, but at least he was waking up. “Okay, I’m almost done NeeNee.” The reply had that Cheshire like grin slipping back onto her face. Her little brother was so cute sometimes. NeeNee had derived from when he was little, unable to pronounce Nibui properly. It was adorable and she hoped he kept it for many years to come.

It was currently around five seventeen in the morning, and Nibui had to get Chasa and all their stuff ready to go by six thirty and meet her team at six. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the boat to let them on and they would be on their way. Humming again, the same tune as before. It was something that Chisaki had hummed to her little brother when he was a baby. What was the name of it? She could hardly remember any of the words, however, the tune was engraved in her head. Hush little something? Baby, maybe.

Moving back to the table, she grabbed the bowls and brought them over to the stove. Grabbing a ladle from the drawer, Nibui gave two ladles to each bowl before setting them onto the table once again. Grabbing ahold of the kettle, she lifted it a bit and gave it a whirl before moving to pour some of the tea into both mugs. “Chasa, come on.” moving one of the chairs back, Nibui sat herself down, reaching across the table, she pulled the chair for her brother out a little bit before turning her attention to her food. She had gotten two bites in before her little brother came from the hallway, hopping down the stairs. Shuffling his way to the table, he got up on the chair before giving Nibui a smile. “Thank you for the food, NeeNee!” Nibui gave her little brother her toothy smile once again, before gesturing for him to it. “Remember, we need to pack, and then I need to seal everything into a couple of scrolls, so don’t dilly dally.” Chasa nodded his head before dug into his soup and tea, taking some honey for his.

It was over, and she shoved the stool in front of the sink for Chasa to do the dishes and clean up. Moving back to her room, Nibui started to collect a couple of bags, and pouches. Lining everything she had set out upon her floor, she started to catalog tall, making sure she had everything she would need before checking it over three times over. There were eight sets of kunai and shuriken, four spools of steel wire. Twelve explosive tags, four boxes of pills, sorted as chakra pills, plasma pills, military ration pills. A bag of flash bombs, a bag of ice bombs, three cases of oil, the flint teeth inserts, three tins of medical ointment, three bandage rolls, a small case of cooling tags. And finally her metal spiked knuckle gloves. She always had her left arm in case she needed to summon Shama.

The likelihood that Nibui would use half of these things was slim. Her main tools being the steel wire, her eyes, the gloves and maybe her summons. The rest would only be needed in a pinch, or she could give it to the rest of her team, but it was always good to be prepared for the worst, or any case scenario. Shama was Nibui’s summon. She was a snow lynx, her coat was silver, blue, and black. Her shoulders reached Nibui’s hips. She was a wonderful cat and was more of a mother figure than anything. Often times, Nibui would summon Shama to help warm the beds and cuddle up.

Humming in approval, Nibui set about sealing all of her things into scrolls, she had two big ones that she would situate on her back for the journey. She also packed extra clothes, both warm and the lightest stuff she had in her inventory. After all of that, she grabbed what Chasa had laid out to take with him, so, mainly clothes. Once this was done, Nibui hustled Chasa to get ready for the march to town. Wrapping her right thigh with bandage tape before doing the same thing to her upper left arm. Hooking the hard box pouches to each of them before sliding her back belt pouch on, and stuffing two small scrolls inside of it, food scrolls.

Next, she slid her coat on with her clan crest. A tilted white cross inside of a too-small circle. The coat was black, light, and mostly armored. It was opened, though it could zip up. It had short slitted sleeves the bottom front hem tapering down into belt buckles. There was a cut in the back tail of it. The tail reached to the back of her knees. The cut going all the way up to the back of her hips, flaring up into an opened circle. This allowed easy access to her back belt pouch. Under this, along with the cut, there was a flap that had four buttons, this reached from the top of her butt to mid-thigh, closing it up before letting the tail flare out into two till the back of her knees.

Second to last was her Hitai-ate, tying the white fabric at the back of her head. Moving from her room, she checked the time, six twenty. Turning, she called back to her brother. “Chasa, time to go, come one, I'll leave you if you don't hurry!” Moving to the door, she sat herself down on the floor before grabbing onto her boots. They were black, a white tab allowing the boot to split before wrapping around from the back, and to the side, and clipping there for a secure fit. The thumping and thudding of her brother in panic made her grin as she started to stand. Chasa came flying past her, nearly running into the door before sliding to a stop.

He was dressed warmly. They would need to get more weather appropriate clothes once they got to the land of fire. Chasa slammed his feet into his blue sandals, his brown hair was brushed, though still messy. He was dressed in a black shirt, and pants with a white armored vest that she had gotten him last year. It covered all of his ribs and chest, stopping just of his collarbones, before clipping into strips for shoulder straps, and forming a hard shell on the back as well.

Nodding in approval, Nibui lifted both of the big scrolls up, sliding them into a holder that she could slip onto her back before doing so. Stepping out the door, Nibui closed and sealed the door shut before bending down, holding her arms out, Chasa jumped up at her, hugging her to him, she hopped off of the four stairs and onto the snow. The warm tingly feeling of her chakra flowed into her legs as she set out, sprinting across the snow and hardly leaving a track as she skimmed over it. The wind from her speed whipping by them.

They lived a good hour away by walking, but with Nibui’s enhanced ability for running, she would cut the time down into half or less. Chasa had his arms wrapped around her neck, legs around her hips while his face nuzzled into her neck so he could breathe and keep himself warm. It also prevented the wind from assaulting his eyes to try and draw tears out, Nibui was spared from this by having her glasses protect her. The house and forest line started to get smaller and smaller the longer they went on. However, after about fifteen minutes, the town started to come into view.

Nibui was to meet Dai at the tea shop, and they would wait for Sasha and Shizuo-Sensei. Dai and Nibui tended to be early. Even if Nibui hated mornings with every ounce of her being, she would rather be early than late and miss something. Once everyone was gathered, they would head to the docs and wait for the boat. Slowing down as she neared the town, there were a couple of people out, opening shops and going to work. Chasa lifted his head up as Nibui bounded in long strides through one of the streets, steering clear of anyone that was out.

Once arriving at the tea shop, Nibui came to a stop, letting Chasa drop down before pulling the door open and allowing him to bounce in. Stepping inside herself, she heard her brothers excited cheer. “Dai Nii-san!” Nibui looked up just in time to see her brother launch himself up at a boy that stood around Five foot nine. A giant for his age.

He had short cropped black hair with short bangs that if down would only reach the middle of his forehead. Instead, they were siked up in a messy display of tidiness. He had a strong jaw and soft black eyes. He was pale, but he had an olive tone to his skin, unlike Nibui’s milky complexion. He had broad shoulders, over them lay a black a fitted turtleneck. Across his chest, and matching her little brother, was a white chest protector, though instead of both shoulders, there was only one going up over the left side giving it a sort of warped triangle shape. Thick banned straps splayed over his sides in two strips on each side of him before connecting them to the back plate. His abdomen had a thick belly scarf that reached his hips it was a soft grey that had steel string intertwined with it. His pants were similar to Nibui’s, only his were black, and he had bandages wrapping around his shins down to his short sandals, again like her little brother.

Across his back were two short swords, sheaths and handles an off-white with silver accents. The handles coming up to his right shoulder, this strap holding them to his back wrapped around his right shoulder and clipped onto his chest plate. This strap was also where his Hitai-ate lay. He had a big scroll clipped over all of this on his back as well, though he had a couple more hip pouches than Nibui herself did. Chasa looked liked a downgraded mini-me to Dai, one of her team members, also, Chasa’s favorite person. Dai had caught Chasa and was currently holding him up to his chest like a schoolgirl would hold her books. Chasa’s back to Dai’s chest as he looked at his sister with a closed-eyed grin. Even Dai himself was giving her his dopey puppy dog face. His chin rested on top of her little brothers head. A big Cheshire grin formed onto her face, and with a shake of her head, she was stepping forward to the table that Dai has nabbed, even though there was no one else currently in the shop.

Setting Chasa down, Dai nodded his head to Nibui, in greeting. “Mmh, hello to you too.” Moving a chair back, Nibui sat on its very edge, leaning forward to rest her arms on the table top, she dipped her head down and let her face sing into her arms, letting out a small moan. It really was too early. Nibui let her eyes close and go into a semi-state of rest while letting her brothers excited voice chat away at her quiet teammate. At some point, tea was set onto the table, yet she did not bother to lift her head, much more in favor of the position she was in, it was comfortable, and she would not move unless it was time to go.

The door opened once again with a light chime, soon followed with a much too bright ‘Yo!’ as per usual. Sasha had arrived. No sooner than that, there was a heavy hand on her shoulders, pressing them down and into the table lightly before leaving. It was a greeting of some sort that the two had formed within the first three months of their team forming. It took some time for Nibui to warm up to either of them even when in the school for a while. Next, he greeted both Dai and Chasa with enthusiasm before he sat himself down in the last remaining chair at the table.

Turning her head a bit to the side, just enough to peek over the top of her arm, she took him in. Sasha had straight spikey hair, longer than either Dai’s or herself his bangs reached his jaw, though it was parted that left his left eye open to see. His hair was a light brown, and it made the deep sea blue of his eye pop. his skin was more peach in tone, though still pale. Really the sun was hard to come by here. His Hitai-ate was tied around his neck and he was dressed in a white shirt, the sleeves flared out, and covered his hands in a slanted cut. The front folded over before being tied at his midsection with a black armored band. Underneath, he had on a black long-sleeved turtleneck that had built-in gloves.

His top stopped at mid-thigh, though split apart in the front a bit at the hem. He wore his pants much more similar to Dai did, only his were a dark grey rather than black. Looped around his hips was a set of belts, each one held an abundance of pouches and small boxes. On his back, he too had a large scroll tied to him. Though unlike Nibui’s strap backpack holster, or Dai’s simple string tie method, he used bandages to tie his to himself. Sasha always was an elegant one, even though he was loud and held the metal for chatterbox of the people Nibui knew.

Chasa and Sasha were in an animated conversation about what the land of fire might be like before the bell chime of the door sounded out again. In strode a woman layered in metal plates. Her entire abdomen, her arms, and shoulders were covered, and underneath was a thick threaded black mesh as a protective layer. Har hips were covered in plates that were attached to one another to form strips. One fell down in the front, one on the back and one on either side. They reached her knees, and under she wore her pants much similar to both of the boys on Nibui’s team.

On either side of her metal skirt, there were a twin set of short swords, and then a set of Nodachi sat crossed at her back. Her Hitai-ate was tied to her hip. Her hair was long, wild and spiked in a deep, hot brown shade. Her bands curled in a woosh over her left eye, showing the right one to be a piercing green. Her skin was similar to Sashas, it was warm-toned, though hers was a bit darker than his. A beauty mark dotted itself underneath her eye, and her long dark lashes moved to squint at the group of teens and child. 

Her arms crossed over her chest with clanks of her metal plates and she moved her weight to one leg. “Hurry up and finish, the ship is ahead of schedule, we will be at the docs in five minutes.” her voice held command and held no room for argument. Shizuo-sensei always was like a glossed stone. She would hurt you but she was still pretty. Everyone was suddenly up, and paper notes were tossed onto the table as they followed their sensei, who was already out the door. Chasa was sat upon Dai’s shoulders, holding onto the fourteen-year-old in a deathly grip as the air swished and whipped by him once they were out of the shop.

Dai’s hands gripped onto the boy's thighs to keep him stable as they all jumped up onto the rooftops of the tea house and buildings surrounding, hopping and running their way to the docs, their sensei’s metal skirt making clanking sounds as she ran. At this pace, they would reach the docs in four minutes, but there would be the finding the boat that they needed to board, though, with Sensei, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Jumping to the left, Nibui landed next to Sasha, and he looked over to her, giving her a lidded grin with raised brows. Taking in a lung full of the crisp air, Nibui pushed forward to run ahead of him before making a small leap to the right.

Cutting in front of Sasha, she slammed on the breaks for a moment before continuing forward. The yelp that sounded behind her gave her signal that she startled him, and the lazy Cheshire grin that came to her was soon seen by a snickering Sasha as he pulled up next to her, a fist coming up to bump her shoulder while he shook his head. “You’re ridiculous!” his voice almost got carried away by the wind but she caught it. Turning to look at him she shifted her shoulders in a shrug as a response, grin still splayed across her face.

Once at the docks, they all hopped down, jogging a few paces before moving into a brisk walk as they strode behind their Sensei. It took half a minute to find the ship, and four more to get all of them onto it and situated to where their rooms would be. Casa begged and begged to share a room with one of the boys, and he ended up being glued to Dai, whom reluctantly gave in and allowed it. It was only for tonight though, before he would be handed over to Sasha, who would gladly take the boy. Nibui would take him whenever, after all, she was his sister.

They would be on the boat for a total of five days, before they reached The Land Of Fire docks, and from the docks where it would take them a total of two days if they were slow, one if they kept pace to reach Konoha. If they went slow, they would have two days to wander around, but if they kept pace they would get three. It was all up to Siuzua-Sensei, though, and she would tell them what her plan was before they docked up. With a small goodbye to her team, and dumping her brother onto Sasha, Nibui excused herself to her room to unload and to take a good long nap. They had a long journey ahead of them and she would need all the rest she could get.


	2. leaf, sand, and snow

Four days, it had been four so far and Nibui wanted land oh so badly. She had never really taken to boats, and the sea sickness had taken her early on. So much so that she had opted for a quick fixer-upper, while at the same time prepping her in more chakra control. Most of the time, the sea was relatively calm, and so running on the surface of the sea held a few problems for her. She could go for most of the day before she needed to turn in and rest her coils a bit. By the third day, they had started to itch and burn a bit, protesting against the constant hours' long sprees she would spend using them. However, it was still better than feeling the need to throw up constantly.

 

Sometimes, Sasha and Dai would hop down with her and they would all have a short romp around on the water's surface, occasionally dunking one under the water. Mainly it was Nibui herself getting pushed under by Dai. The change she had to make from simply focusing her chakra in her feet and legs to her hands and arms as she broke the surface was tiring. Her hands needing to splay over the surface and pulling herself up, then moving her chakra up her arms and chest, flicking her legs up before rewiring her chakra into them so she could stand. All of this at least seven times in the span of one brawl was irking and tiresome.

 

She had made it up to Dai, of course, slugging him in the face a good couple of times, and slapping him around on the head and neck aggressively before pulling away. He always hated it, yet startling and messing with his brain was something that Nibui would indulge in every so often when he got on her nerves. Of course, messing with her team's head was something they had all made an agreement to not do. She never took it farther than bickering and playing around, she knew how devastating her methods and technique could be. Nibui may not be the physically strongest, or the quickest on her team, but she was the smartest.

 

With most of her studies going into Psychology, Behavioural Science and Sociology, with side studies of Anatomy, Strategy, and Hoplology. Most of the rest of her time was spent training and taking care of her brother, as of four years ago, anyway. She was the brain, Dai was the muscle, Shizuo-Sensei was the foundation, the bone, while Sasha was the blood. However, just because Nibui specialized in the attack and surrender of someone's conscious and wit, that did not mean she was unable to pack a punch or get out of the way.

 

Nibui had a strong arm sort of fighting style, she did not like to move around much, and had a more old-school style, slugging and wiping at vitals with hard jabs before retreating to herself and watching. However, strength was an issue for her to get ahold of, she was a good hitter, but she was not a straight-up slugger like Dai was. The guy could punch someone once and they would be down for the count. He preferred to use this strength he had with blades rather than fists, and that was just a deadly combination.

 

Nibui was fast, she had the stamina for long runs, and could whip out a kunai like a clap of lightning. However, that was about it, her reaction time and regular sprint were good, but anything else was in the gutter. Sasha was amazing in this field, he could contort his body into the craziest shapes and positions while flipping through the air like a throwing knife, before he would land and dart off for cover before coming back out at you at another angle. He was also good at healing, and it was the route that he wanted to go in later in life, so constantly taking care of the black eyes and bruises that Nibui gave to Dai was something that Sasha would grin about, like a happy present for the day. The same could be said for when Nibui came to him, slumped over to get her cuts bound up because Dai and his stupid knives and swords were a pain.

 

So, by the third day, Dai decided to be the big dog boy that he really was deep down. He took pity on her, slipping into her room in the morning before helping her clamber onto his back. Once situated, he took Nibui out on the deck, before hopping off the side and landing on the surface of the water with the sound of stepping in an extremely shallow, yet wide puddle. He had been running along with the boat for maybe twenty minutes before she started to come out of her groaning and shoving her face into the nook of his neck and shoulder.

 

Dai always had a nice smell, earth, old scrolls, and crisp fresh winter air. Her team, excluding their Sensei, had accepted the weird scenting thing that Nibui did once she accepted someone into her life. She would often go to one of them or her brother for comfort, dipping her head to their neck, head, or wrists just to, to breathe[1]. It hardly happened, but it did every so often. Her feeling sick was one hundred percent a valid reason for her to dip into this indulgence until she felt better. Pulling her head back a bit, she rested her cheek on his shoulder, nose still tilted to his neck as she squinted up at him.

 

Dai glanced down at her from the side of his eye, before he let out a low hum. His voice was always, always so deep, like the lowest of bass drums, or the after the rumble in the sky from thunder. Letting her eyes close again, she used her hands to pat at his collarbones and plated chest. “Thank you.” Raspy, as usual, though with a sourness to it that she disliked, Nibui took in a slow deep breath to try and ease the deep rolling her stomach took to again. She truly hated this feeling, getting stabbed in the leg seemed like a better punishment than whatever this was.

 

A light puff of air and Dai let out a low “You’re welcome.” simple, short and sweet. It was how their relationship was, they never really spoke to one another, but Nibui knew his ques and quirks well enough that she did not need him to speak often. Just as he knew when playtime was over with her and took things with a strong grip once again. He hopped up, adjusting his grip on her thighs a moment before he continued on. And after maybe thirty more minutes of this, Nibui fell asleep once more, blanketed in the warmth of her friend, and his comforting scent.

 

That's how the fourth day went. Dai and Sasha switching off from carrying Nibui to keeping an eye on Chasa, while Shizuo-Sensei moved throughout the ship and did what seemed to be paperwork. Before Sasha had woke Nibui up for dinner, Shizuo-Sensei had called them for a gathering. So awake she was again, not bothering to try and get out of the princess hold that he had on her, now that they were on the blasted boat once again, simply tucking into his chest and breathing in herbs, cream, and tea.

 

Shizuo-Sensei Took no time to bother with any of them, diving right into why she had called them. “We are going to be ahead of schedule, we will be reaching the shore by two this morning, so I want you all to gather your things. We will head out from there and will be in Konohagakure at around eight in the AM. This will give you all time to adjust properly to the village before the exams start.” Pulling up a hand, it held three papers in hand, her other moving to her hip and she looked all three of her Genin down with a hard stare. “I expect you all to behave. No fighting with anyone or each other unless in one of the training grounds you are provided with. This will be ground four, ground eight, ground ten, ground thirteen, and ground fourteen. This may end up being added to within two days. You will train every day for at least four hours before going off and doing whatever it may be that you want. This paper is something you need to fill out, it also has where we will be staying, you can choose what rooms you want amongst yourselves.”

 

Handing the papers forward, everyone but Sasha took one, Nibui taking the last one for him, seeing as he was busy holding her up. After that, Shizuo-Sensei shooed everyone away, all three of them going over to Chasa who was already eating food at one of the small, long tables. Setting Nibui down, Sasha sat next to her before he snatched one of the papers out of her hands. Dai hopping over the table to sit down next to Chasa. Nibui hardly looked at the paper before she started to eat her food. She was stopped midway through by Sasha arguing with Chasa about what room he wanted. She was almost drawn into it, but with a wave of her hand and a shrug, she went back to her food.

 

“I honestly don’t even care, I’m just excited to see what it looks like there.” Nibui and Chasa had never been anywhere else before. Only getting snow and hail, with the rare appearance of the sun shining by itself. The sun and greenery would be something they would be seeing for the first time in person. Nibui had bundled up most of her money for new clothes because she doubted their heavy clothes would be good for keeping Nibui and her brother cool in the warm weather.

 

The plant and animal life was something she was looking forward too, she was looking forward to it all, and would take absolutely everything in with greedy hands. “Mmmh, I think I’ll take the double room because I want to take Chasa with me too..” Sasha was looking down at his sheet of paper, chopsticks being fiddled with by his teeth as his hand held the other end of them. Raising her head, Nibui looked at him, before shrugging. “If you want him, you can have him.” The offended gasp brought her gaze to her brother, his mouth hung open wide, brows knitted together as he looked right at her, chopsticks halfway to his mouth was frozen. The rice they held dropping back down to his plate.

 

With a roll of her eyes, Nibui kicked his foot under the table. “Stop it, this way you don't need to be with me while I,” setting her chopsticks down, she brought her hands up and made a set of air quotes as she continued. “Do girl things.” Letting her hands drop down to reclaim her chopsticks she leaned on the table as Sasha started to snicker at her and her brother. ”So don’t act offended, you would have complained if you roomed with me, you little worm.” The Cheshire grin came back to her face as he stuck his tongue out at her, and they all turned back to eating. Soon Chasa finished, seeing as he started a good couple of minutes before them. He ran at Sasha’s request to get a couple of pencils. Dai was finishing up by the time her little brother reappeared, slamming two pencils onto the table before climbing up onto the bench again.

 

Nibui was the first to grab one, Sasha coming in second. The form really only went over what you were not to do, what they were allowed to do, and a date and time for the first exam. Once that was done, they wanted a full name, gender, and signature. Filling it all out, Nibui started with her name.

 

Nibui Kyōhaku[2]

 

Dull Intimidation. She disliked it all together. She didn't have the same last name as her brother even, Their mother giving Nibui her father's last name. Maybe it was because the two had different fathers? Who knew. Chasa’s last name was Urakura, and Nibui’s was Kyōhaku. With a sigh, she moved on. Gender was easy, Female, simple, same with her signature. With a flick of her wrist, she handed her pencil over to Dai without looking up from the paper. For a fifteen-year-old, she had a nice signature, or at least she thought so.

 

With that everyone cleared out to get to their rooms and gather all of their things. It was eleven or so so that would mean Nibui could get a good three hours of sleep before she had to get up again. Falling face first onto her bed, she didn't even bother changing or going under the blanket, just kicking her boots off and hugging the pillow before she was out like a light. There sure was nothing like feeling sick for the better part of a week and not ever feeling rested anyways.

 

\--

 

Stepping off of the boat was a welcome feeling, her feet hit solid ground and even though the sickness did not fade instantly, it was still better than what it was. Chasa was hiked up onto Saha’s back, arms wrapped around the older boys neck and set for the run to the village hidden in the leaves. Already, it was way too warm, the heat radiating from her was making her uncomfortable, and with a look, she could see everyone else on her team felt the same. Thankfully a lot of their travel would be under the cover of nightfall, though the more inland they traveled, the more the warmth would rise, no longer blanketed by the coolness of the sea.

 

Shizuo-Sensei took little time to gather everyone, She would take point while Nibui and Sasha flanked. Dai would bring up the back in a tight cell. They walked at first, going down the main road of the port town, and they would continue to do so till they reached the tree line. It was dark, but the moon was almost full and shone brightly down on the land before them. The dark glass of her glasses made it hard, but she was able to see well enough, The Land Of Snow was never known to be bright and sunny, and they had had night missions by the handful there.

 

The trees ahead, slowly coming closer and closer were amazing, they were tall, the trunks thick, and mostly bare. There was a green fuzz that crawled on the base of the rooty trunks, and crawled up them before going patchy - moss[1]; she provided for herself. The branches and leaves were more so aimed at the tops of the trees, there were mid hanging branches. Grass covered the ground, lush and vibrant even in the dark, and she could not help but drag her feet over it a little bit to feel it through her sandals.

 

As they entered the treeline, they strode in more, before Shizuo-Sensei launched off of the ground. Quickly, her students followed, hopping onto the thick trunks to get to some of the thicker mid hanging branches. Nibui could hardly help herself as she bent forward, hands coming down to run along the smooth bark that she ran across, looking at it in wonder. She had to be parted too soon for her liking in order to jump up to a thick branch. Her hands constantly coming out to brush against anything she came across, mostly bunches of leaves that she was able to get close enough to without breaking the formation of their cell.

 

She did not know when, but her starstruck expression had turned into something of wonder, her lips forming into a soft smile, nothing like the usual Cheshire grins that she gave. At one point, her hand came to brush across some of that lush moss that grew on the trees and her eyes had stars in them. It was all better than anything she had ever read, to see, smell, hear and feel[1]. Her breath had simply been taken away, and she allowed herself to indulge in all of this, taking in everything she possibly could. Before she knew it, blue morning light started to trickle in, giving the forest a soft glow.

 

It was only a matter of time before the sun came through, and allowed the little pieces of the sun to come through the little holes in the canopy. She could hardly wait for it, her heart thrumming in her chest. Only to be taken away from the thought as soft whistles and chirps started to fill the air as the sun slowly started to lift even more. The songs of all the birds[1]. Her head lifted, looking up and around her, searching desperately to see one, to catch one in the act of singing. It did not take long, a pair swooped down and soared right in front of her sensei. They were small, could easily fit in the palm of her hand. Their chests were a brick orange, while the rest of them was dusted with a fine blue.

 

She cataloged it all in her mind's eye, not wanting to forget a single thing she came by. So caught up in all of her musings, Nibui was hardly registering the heat that was building in her chest, running through her veins to spread it, and lift it to her skin as the sun slowly started to go more into the sky. Her chest rising and falling only slightly more than it normally would have after only a couple of hours of travel. Five hours was usually nothing for the team, in long stationed sprints, they were used to travel, the villages and towns in The Land Of Snow were few and far between. Shizuo-Sensei turned suddenly, going more to the left, and jumping down to the lower branches before hitting the ground and moving into a smooth run.

 

Her team followed, as soon as Sasha landed on the grass blanketed earth, he hopped up a bit, smoothly adjusting his grip on her little brother, and in turn, he snuggled his face deeper into her teammate's shoulder. She shook her head lightly before turning forward again. They were coming up into a long parting in the trees; a road. It was thick, wide enough for decently sized carts to go along next to each other in a pair. As they came to the road, they slowed from a sprint to a run, down to a jog, before settling down into a walk. Slowly pulling together so the wide diamond shape they created became more compact. 

 

Ahead, in the distance were large green slabs, red etched into them. They gave way to the tall wall that stretched out on either side of them, the space between open. Over the top, there was the crest for the land of fire. Her head was stilted up to look at it as it came closer. Two ninja stood off the side, on the left of them. Her eyes trailed over them in the morning light, taking their features in. 

 

One had hair similar to Saha, covering one eye, only his was a darker brown, his visible eye a dark charcoal color. His under armor came up and covered his chin. The outfit was that of what she assumed was the shinobi standard, as both of the men were dressed the same. A green flak jacket, padded for protection, a loose dark blue shirt one each shoulder there was a red circle with a swirl, and she glimpsed one on the vest as well, in the middle upper back. Their pants were the same as well, wrapped at mid-shin before having the standard sandal.

 

He had a headscarf with the leaf metal plate at his forehead. The other man's hair black, bigger, and spiked wildly. His eyes were more narrow, though the same color as the others. He had a normal Hitai-ate on his forehead, just as Nibui herself did, though she was the only one besides Sasha that had white fabric instead of dark blue or black. He had a strip of loose bandage that covered the bridge of his nose, draping over his cheeks before going around and most likely being tied at the back of his neck. He had a strip over his chin in something dark.

 

As her team approached, the men turned to them and took them in just as they were doing to the two leaf shinobi. Nibui was the closest besides her Sensei, who led them. As they stopped at the men, Shizuo-Sensei held out the papers that they all had filled out, the one with the covered eye taking them to look over them as the other stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest as he let a light grin come to his face. Before he had a chance to speak to her Sensei, Nibui had stepped forward, an air of unsettling curiosity around her. She had stepped forward, slightly behind her Sensei but to the side enough that she could see him, and he could see her just fine. His eyes fell to her as she leaned forward a bit, head slightly cocked to the side as she took him in again.

 

Her Sensei, as well as her team, stiffened as the much too common phrase, came from her. “Neh Neh, Leaf Shinobi-San..” her words were airy, and she caught the other man looking to her as she spoke. Her Sensei turned her gaze to Nibui from the corner of her eyes, her hands squeezing her forearms from where they were crossed over her chest. The Cheshire grin slowly lifted onto Nibui’s face, and the unsettling feeling increased. “Neh, what's your name?”

 

Instantly, the moment the words left her mouth, Shizuo-Sensei’s gloved hand was on her head, fingers spread out as she shoved her students head down, and back, making the younger girl take two steps back before letting go. Nibui’s shoulders shoot a bit with laughter as she brought a hand up to correct her glasses. “Shishi... I’m just asking a question, Sensei..” Dai looked at her from the corner of his eye and let out a hum, he was disapproving.

 

The shinobi both had not stopped looking at her, before the one closest to them, without the papers, spoke. “Kotetsu, and behind me is Izumo, nice to meet you.” Nibui brightened as his response, Cheshire like grin getting bigger as she leaned to the side to get a better look at him from where she had been pushed back to. Though not stepping forward, smart, her Sensei had trained them well. “Kotetsu-San, nice to meet you. I’m Nibui.” She dipped her head just so, and he hummed. The other one, Izumo stepped forward, Papers down at his side in one hand.

 

“Okay, everything looks in order, we just need to get you all a pass before you can head in.” His free hand lifted, a thumb jabbing to point over his shoulder, to the inside of the village. “Our desk is right inside, please follow us to receive your passes.” Shizuo-Sensei nodded her head and strode forward, her team following just as they had before. Their passes were stiff cards, and she placed hers and her brothers in her back belt pouch. And then they were on their way into the Village. Nibui spinning on her heel to stride backward, lifting a hand to give a small wave at the two guards. They looked after them until they turned a corner, and with that, she spun around again.

 

They made it to the hotel they would be staying in, and by the time they had all settled, let Chasa sleep, rested up, and had breakfast, it was around four hours later, twelve to one or so. Nibui had taken her Genin team with her to find a store that had more fit summer clothes for ninja. They had been wandering around for maybe an hour, Nibui slumped over as she strode along with her lips in a line as she constantly took things in. Dai was in the middle, leading them while Nibui stood to his left, and Sasha to his right. 

 

It was when they rounded a corner that things brightened in her day even more. If they went down here and turned to the left there would be a surprise. The sudden uneasy feeling that seeped into the air made her teammates look to her. And with a tick of her head, they were moving. To her absolute delight, there were more Genin. Three from this village and the other three were from the sand. From Suna. Her eyes took everything in behind the dark lenses she wore. An ungodly amount of bright colors hit her. Orange, yellow, pink, red and blue. Three kids, around Chasa’s age, four Genin a bit younger than her, maybe Sasha’s age and two around Her and Dai’s age. All stopped to look at the new arrivals, many eyes going to the right strap on Dai’s shoulder, where his Hiai-ate sat, showing the crest for the land of snow shinobi. Then eyes were on the rest of the team. Nibui was hidden behind Sasha and Dai, seeing as she was on the left side, and they had turned a bit to the right to take the road where this gathering took place on.

 

There was a blond boy with three stripes on each cheek, eyes as blue as the sky, a boy in blue, pale, though not more than Nibui, with dark black hair, it almost seemed to have undertones of midnight blue, with charcoal eyes that seemed far too deep than they should be, a stern unimpressed look on his face. He wore a blue shirt that had the collar flare up and cover his chin, if he ducked down, it would cover his nose as well. Behind them, and the little kids was a girl with beautiful pink hair, and sunbathed jade green eyes. Her color scheme was very pink, and Nibui looked on from there. 

 

A girl was there, green-blue eyes on the dark side eyeing Dai up and down. Her hair was also blonde, but not nearly as vibrant as the first boy. She wore a light violet shinobi dress, a red sash around her waist with mesh over her open shoulders and mismatched on her legs, behind her, strapped to her back was a big, folded metal fan. Next to her was a man in a black baggy catsuit, the feline-like ears on his head’s scarf made Nibui giddy with joy. He had face paint in a poisonous purple color, intricate in design. There was something wrapped in bandages that was behind him, a bandage strap holding it to his shoulders. Hands in his pockets.

 

Lastly, at the very end, was what had brought her here, that feeling. A short redhead with bags to rival her own, his seemed too perfect though, as if painted on with an eyeliner brush. A giant gourd sat on his back, his clothes were black, short sleeved though he had metal mesh on underneath, just like the other sand girl. He had a white strip of fabric wrapped around him, a red sash around the middle of his gourd while the strap that held the gourd to him was over his shoulder, down his chest, and past his hip with two strips of additional support there. It was a thick, wide strap of leather, his headband tied to it by his hip. His arms were crossed, eyes a beautiful seafoam green, but the carved ‘love’ kanji in his forehead was something else entirely. 

 

The boy in orange pointed to her team, his voice loud, and obnoxious right off the bat. “Now who the hell are you guys!!” It was a blurted question, and Sasha was quick to answer, a grin on his face, eye closed as he did so. “Yukigakure.” that simple word had everyone more tuned in on them. Yukigakure shinobi were few and far between, The Land Of Snow mostly made samurai, the last time Shinobi had been in the Chunin exams from what she was aware, was three generations ago. The black haired boy scoffed, “There has been no snow shinobi in the Chunin exams for years.” His arms were crossed over his chest now, and Dai stepped forward, his puppy eyes sharpening. What a rowdy bunch of people she was dealing with today, really, what a treat.

 

Her hand came up, resting on Dai’s shoulder as she gave him a couple of pats nudging him to the side she stepped through. People stiffened instantly, The redhead in the back turning to fully face them now as Nibui slouched forward. “Neh Neh..” Sasha let his eye open and looked at her from the side of his eye, as did Dai. “Oi..” She lifted her other hand, a request for quiet while she spoke, and he let out a stressed sigh.

 

She continued, her smile nowhere to be found as of yet. “Mr. Konoha Shinobi-san... You seem the intellectual type, yet, I don’t want to make the same mistake as you, Judging a book by its cover. Yes, we are Land Of Snow shinobi, as it is quite clear. Just as you are from Konoha, and those three are from Suna.” she strode forward, slowly, and all three of them shifted, the Konoha Genin. She stopped by the blonde one, him sidestepping to put some space between him and herself. And block her from the three little kids that were now behind him. Good boy.

 

She moved forward in three big strides and was in front of him, hand coming up to bat him on top of the head, Her gaze turning to look at the black-clad Suna Genin. “If I hear you picking on little kids again in someone else's village, I will strike the fear of God in you.” She leaned passed the boy she had just whacked, as he jumped away from her, She let her spine straighten out, coming to her full height. The air suddenly turning extremely thick, a pressure coming down on all of them. The unease, the itching feeling nothing pleasant in the slightest as a Cheshire like grin came to Nibui’s face. “We are here for the exams, keep your dirty paws off of those you have no right to touch. Your time to pick fights and piss around is a week away if I find you sniffing around and causing trouble,” she turned herself to look at the Konoha shinobi as well as she spoke. “You will not be pleased with the result, as I'm sure your Sensei and superiors will take it into account and punish you accordingly.”

 

She tilted her head, just a little too much, and she could feel them shift uncomfortably, though the redhead caught her eye, and she held his gaze. Though the airlifted and the breeze seemed to return as an arm slung around her shoulder, making her bend down a bit with the weight, the arm tugging her head to the side of a chest. “So let's all be friends, Okay!!” Once again, Sasha came to the rescue, though she didn't think it was needed. Letting out her ‘shishishi’ of a laugh, she turned her head to the side and looked up at him. “That sounds quite nice.”

 

Sasha smiled, back at her, his other hand on his hip, though her attention was taken away from him by the sound of a raspy voice, almost like her own, but much more extreme. “What's your name?” Nibui’s attention moved to the short redhead, and she found him to be looking right at her. Nibui’s grin widened. “It is only polite to introduce yourself first, before requesting someone else's name..” She tilted her head a bit as Sasha loosened his grip on her, though still let his arm drape around her neck.

 

There was a tense moment of quiet before he broke it. “Gaara, of the Desert.” Humming almost excessively, Nibui nodded her head. “Nibui Kyōhaku, a pleasure to meet you, Gaara.” He looked at her a moment more before they turned and strode down the rest of the street. Once out of sight, Nibui turned herself, ducking out from underneath Sasha’s arm. Looking at the other three Genin, and three small kids, she let her smile shrink some.

 

“What a scary guy he is, huh?” She tilted her head as she looked at them, and Sasha shook his head with a sigh. “You can’t just do that after you creep them out, Nibui.” Letting her grin drop, she lifted her brows, turning her head to look at Sasha, before turning to look at Dai. He shrugged his shoulders, and so she turned back to Sasha and did the same, shrugging to him. Another sigh left him and he opted to ignore her, turning to the other Genin. “Sorry about that, it wasn't the best first impression.” He grinned at them, before dipping his head a bit. “Nice to meet you, I’m Sasha Ito, these are my teammates..” He lifted a hand and gestured to Nibui first. “This is, as you heard before, Nibui.” he moved to gesture at Dai soon after. “And that big guy over there is Dai, he's not much of a talker, Nibui is a bit better but she has no idea how to interact with humans properly.”

 

Nibui looked to Sasha, her face now straight. “Sasha, that's rude.” She stood up but nodded to the three Genin. “We should be on our way though, I think Dai might pass out from heat stroke.” Sasha pushed and waved at Nibui, herding her back over to die, before pausing. “Do you mind if I ask for your names?” he tilted his head a bit and his grin brightened.

 

It was the pink haired girl that spoke, her hands in fists as she brought them up to her chest. “Umm... I’m Sakura,” she looked to the black haired boy, and a rosy hue came to her cheeks as she lifted her curled hands, letting her nose and lips duck down behind them. “That's Sasuke-Kun..” her voice was soft, fond and dreamy, and Nibui started, a look of disdain on her face, though it was mostly covered, thanks to her dark glasses. “And that's-” her voice had gone flat, her hands dropping as her gaze shifted to the blonde boy in orange. But before she could finish, he cut her off. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki!” He put his hands on his hips, his stance wide as he grinned. One hand lifted from his hips, and his thumb jammed himself in the chest. “And I’m gonna be the next Hokage!”

 

At the Exclamation, the pink girl, Sakura, Nibui reminded herself, Punched Naruto on the back of the head, making him jolt forward. Hands coming up to thread behind his head, he turned his head back to pout at the girl. Sasha laughed and nodded his head, finally herding Nibui to Dai. Looking up at him, Nibui, patted his head in understanding. His face was flushed with heat and he was sweating. “An interesting dream, I hope you reach it.” his smile was soft, Nibui could tell he was already fond of Naruto. Geez, what a sap he was.

 

Before they all turned to leave, Sasha turned to Sakura. “Do you think you could give us directions to a ninja clothes shop? They don't really have anything light in Yukigakure..” he smiled sheepishly at her, but she just nodded, a small smile on her face as she stepped forward, and spoke to him. Dai’s gaze was on the three small children, and they ducked behind Naruto as they looked back at his tall frame. Meanwhile, Nibui was looking at Sasuke, who in turn was looking right back at her.

 

Nibui let her Cheshire grin slip back onto her face, letting her head lean back a bit as she did so, lifting a hand come up to around her chest area, before wiggling her fingers in some sort of greeting. He looked away, and Nibui snickered to herself. The exams would be entertaining, for sure.


	3. Written exams!

The shirts she had gotten herself were very much similar to her winter ones, the fabric was much more light and breathable, she had even gotten herself a pair of mid-thigh tight shorts and a short sleeved shirt. And had just gotten her brother some regular clothes. Of course, Nibui was going to keep her jacket on, it was never really for warmth, more so for protection. Dai was in the same boat she was, sticking with colors and cuts that were familiar. The only one to deviate from it was Sasha. He had gotten a foam green top in the same cut as the one before it, a white undershirt instead of black, and grey pants. It made him look more like he belonged in the summer rather than winter, but he still fits in with his team, thankfully ignoring the brighter shades.

So any activities they had done after that were much better than walking around in thick cotton, multiple layers, and colors that attracted the sun. The training was different, the terrain and footing had changed so drastically. It was nice, they could move with more speed here than they could in eight feet of snow and pine trees. There was the heat, but they were ninja, they were trained for this in case they were requested to go to another country. The one having the hardest time was Dai, but he was a trooper and stubbornly punching through, and seeing him with flushed features more often was something she nor Sasha would complain about.

Sasha had run into Sakura a couple of times, as well, and they started to spend time together, her coming around often enough that Nibui started to get familiar with her scent. It was much stronger than most, most likely due to the false civilian perfume she used. At one point, Nibui quipped in about it, ‘People could track you, you know’. The girl seemed very uncomfortable with Nibui for two straight days, even when Sasha verified why his teammate had said it. However, her scent had started to straighten out after Nibui had sat next to her and pointed out some nonlethal smelling bath soaps that she herself was fond of. It was strange for her to be giving this kind of advice, or help someone she hardly knew or wasn't really that fond of. However, because Sasha had taken a liking to her, Nibui put up with it.

It was the day before they were supposed to meet up for the first part of the exam that Nibui took Chasa out with her, wondering the Hidden Leafs streets. He moved from one shop to the next, yapping excitedly about the cool things he found and how there were so many other cool things here that the land of snow simply did not have. Like how instead of explosion tags, the land of snow usually preferred ice bombs, or instead of smoke bombs, they had fog ones. The food was different as well. 

She had just stepped into a restaurant for morning food time, Chasa hopping in excitedly as she held the door open for him, babbling on about how cool the shinobi here were. Nibui throwing her input in on the subject here and there. Stopping, she lifted her hand and placed it on his head. “Neh Neh, Chasa, go and find somewhere to sit, I'm going to the desk to order, okay?” Hipping on his heels, Chasa nodded his head with an enthusiastic hmm. The entire time they were here, Chasa had eaten the same thing, Dango. With a sigh, she pulled up to the counter, waiting before a pretty woman with black hair and tan skin came forward. After requesting two orders of Dango, while she got a bowl of miso with a side of rice and meat.

After she was done, she dipped her head before turning, to find her brother. Following her nose, she wandered over to the corner he seemed to have stuffed himself in, only, she stopped for a split second. He was chatting excitedly with two other people, a familiar Baggy black catsuit, and pale blonde pigtails greeted her. It was the girl who was speaking to Chasa, her elbow rested up on the table that was next to Chasa’s, her chin rested in her palm. The cat boy was leaning back in his chair, legs spread under the table with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked put off by the situation, and Nibui felt the same way.

Before she could help herself, an eerie air wafted from her as she stepped forward. Almost immediately, Chasa stopped talking, his teeth clanking together as his jaw snapped shut, and his eyes seemed to panic as his head spun around, looking for an escape route. At his sudden behavioral change, the Suna shinobi looked at him strangely before the girl's shoulders tightened, soon followed by the cat boy. As she reached the table, she looked at Chasa a moment before turning to look at the two other shinobi. They looked to her as well, the boy's eyes narrowed at her, but there was no grin forming on her face at the reaction. Her hackles were raised at the threat of them near her little brother.

This seemed to put the other two Genin off as well, and as she turned her body to them a bit more, her attention was taken away from them. The quiet voice of her brother making her head turn away from the other two, to look at him. “Onee-san..” Nibui narrowed her eyes behind her glasses as she tilted her head at her brother, he looked visibly uncomfortable, and the need to fix the situation and make him feel better rushed through her, taking in a couple of slow deep breaths, she sucked the aura she was putting out back in, before leaning over the table, hand plopping on top of his head like a wet spider web. Pressing down a bit, he bent forward as she ruffled his hair. His hands coming up to slap against the table to keep himself up.

“Sorry, sorry... I got you some Dango, by the way, squirt.” Lifting her hand up and off of his head, she snatched it back to herself as he launched up and swatted at her. A grin coming to her face as he scowled at her. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop that!” Nibui looked away, hands coming up as she shrugged her shoulders, grin widening. “I have no idea what you're talking about,” she tilted her head at him, snickering a little bit, before moving to sit down. Chasa was on the same side as the four pigtail girl, so as she moved to sit, she side eyed the cat boy who she was next to.

Once down, she turned to them, and they stiffened up a little bit. Good. Dipping her head to them a bit, she let her Cheshire grin slip onto her face. “Sorry about that, I’m not really a morning person..” Her hand came up to rub at the back of her head, and before she could avoid it, Chasa launched. His stomach pressing to the table as he reached out and batted at his sisters head. Letting it fall forward with the slap, hand coming away from her head as Chasa leaned back into his chair. “Just because you think mornings were created by the antichrist that doesn't mean you can be creepy to people, NeeNee!” He hissed out through his teeth, glaring at her as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

Nibui looked at him a moment, before dropping her head, she hated when he was like this, it was not fair. “You can't blame the morning for everything, either, that was a stupid apology.” Lifting her head to look at him, she narrowed her eyes, even though he couldn't see it. With a huff, she turned in her chair to sit normally, instead of turned to the table next to them. Bringing her arms up, she folded hem on the table, before nuzzling her head into them. There was a grumble from her brother as he turned back to the sand shinobi.

“So, Suna is just, all sand? Are there any trees?” There was a moment of quiet before the girl replied to her brother. “No, not really... We have tumbleweeds though.” Chasa beamed. “It's like the opposite of Yukigakure! We have so much snow, that NeeNee needs to clear the door every hour!” Letting out a snort at his reply, she turned her head so her cheek was pressed to her arms and settled again. As he asked about tumbleweeds, the sand ninja received their food. However, they didn't seem to mind, and the girl continued to talk to her brother, she felt slight ease at this. At least they didn't seem to be rude to all the little kids.

She was almost completely asleep by the time their food arrived, blinking blearily, she lifted her head, hand coming up and lifting her glasses. Her eyes were closed to be safe, as she rubbed at them a bit. Grabbing them she set them back in place before stifling a yawn. Huffing a bit, she looked over her brother who already had entire Dango ball in his mouth listening to the girl intently. Smiling a bit at his little face, Nibui turned to her own food. Starting with the miso, she let her shoulders drop, it was good, fresh food was so good. As Chasa and the girl spoke, Nibui turned her head to look at Cat boy. Swallowing, she stared at him a bit more. His profile was nice, she noted, he was good looking under the face paint. Leaning forward to him a bit, she cocked her head to the side.

“Neh Neh, Cat-boy, why do you wear face paint?” His head snapped to look at her, his eyes squinted as his brows knitted together, one twitching a bit as his frown deepened at her. It was quiet between the two of them before he turned to look forward. “Because.” That was all he said. His voice was deep, but there was annoyance and irritability laced through it. Humming, Nibui leaned back, turning to her food once again. “It looks nice.” She took a bite, tilting her head to the side. “The design is appealing.” She could see him turn to her as she took another bite before she turned to look at him again, a grin coming to her face. He was looking at her with narrowed eyes going from her face, down her body, and back up with critical observation. Nibui hummed again. “Neh, what's your name?” Taking a bite of her rice, she continued to look at him as he looked at her, his lips pressing together before he looked forward and went back to his own food. “Kankuro.” 

Nibui, once again, hummed, Tilting her head to the left, then to the right, and back again. “Kankuro huh..” It suited him, she thought. “So, do you like puppetry?” she took another bite before looking to him, he looked incredibly stiff at her comment. “You wear a Bunraku. It’s a puppeteers costume, right?” He nodded his head at her, and she grinned, leaning back towards him, and he leaned back a bit. “That's cool, hey? I don’t know a lot about that stuff, but it must be comfortable, it gives you a cool scary look with the face paint, too, kind of creepy, you know?” she nodded her head. “And that's” she pointed a finger at him. “Always a good thing.” Leaning back, she popped a piece of meat into her mouth, and now he just looked straight up confused. So, she elaborated. “Being unsettling is something all shinobi should consider, after all, would you rather look cool or cute when facing someone down, or creepy and unsettling? It tends to throw other peoples game off, and that gives openings, and openings are sweet as gold, huh?” She grinned, tilting her head towards him.

His face scrunched up a bit, and he shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her. “Sure, I guess. I see your point.“ Nodding his head, She grinned at him. She liked him, he was hardly chatty like Sakura and was keeping his guard up around her. “Is that crest on the back of your jacket your families?” His inquiry made her grin drop at the suddenness of it. Turning to look at him from where she had turned back to her food, she ran her tongue along her teeth, sucking on them for a second before nodding her head. “Yeah, it’s my clans.” Though she was the last of them. Her clan would mostly die with her, as it did with her father. Chasa was her half-brother, he held none of that bloodline, he did not hold the eyes that she held.

Kankuro grunted with a nod before turning to his food, and she did the same. She turned into Her brother and the girl's conversation, every once in a while quipping in here and there. She gained the girl's name, Temari, again, it suited her, just as Kankuro’s name suited him. Surprisingly, Kankuro started bickering in the conversation too, The two sand nin teasing Chasa how they were older before Nibui struck. “I’m the eldest.” Nibui sat back, arms crossed over her chest as a smug smirk came over her face. Chasa slammed his hand down on the table, pointing at her with the other as he looked to the other two. A loud ‘HAH’ coming from him as he did so. Temari looked at her skeptically, before Nibui spoke again. “The last day in the month of June, I'm a solid month older.” her teeth came through her smile, and she chuffed out a laugh along with her brother. Temari’s birthday was August twenty third.

As they all finished and stood to go after paying, the group headed out, Temari asking what way the two siblings were headed. Chasa replied, and she smiled. They seemed to be staying in the same place, so they would walk together. The line went Temari, Chasa, who was now holding hands with the sand nin, Nibui, and then Kankuro. Nibui was eyeing her brother and the other girl, and Kankuro was watching all of them. Turning to Kankuro, Nibui spoke to him, questioning. “I thought you guys didn't like kids..?” Kankuro turned to her, his hands in his pockets as he raised a brow. “Hah? No, that's just me, Temari loves them,” he seemed to cringe at the thought, and Nibui narrowed her eyes at him. “You got something against my brother, you punk?” She leaned in, he was only an inch or so taller than she was.

He narrowed his eyes at her in response, his lip raising a bit in discomfort as he leaned away from her. “No, Just children in general,” Nibui grumbled but leaned away from him, her arms folding over her chest. “I guess I get what you mean, that pink pincushion won't leave my team alone, and she brings the orange boy and emo boy with her sometimes. It’s annoying.” Her usual Cheshire smile seemed to flip upside down as she tilted her head and thought about it. “She won’t leave Sasha alone, but she's always asking me questions and I hate it. Chasa is a good four years younger and he's more mature, it's obnoxious.” The sputtering sound from the sand nin made her turn her head to him, his head was turned away from her, but his shoulders were shaking a bit. Her head cocked to the side and she leaned over, and forward, attempting to get a look at him.

They were in sight of the hotel, and Nibui was leaning so far the contortion was making it hard for her to walk. Kankuro must have seen her from the corner of his eye because he snapped around to look at her. Unfortunately, this was not a wise choice of action because his face slammed into hers, their temples smacking against each other. His hands jolted out of his pockets, and her arms crossed, whipping around wildly as she stumbled to catch herself from tripping, a curse leaving her before she caught herself. Her hands coming up to the right side of her face and head as she bent over. Kankuro was in a similar position, one hand pressed to the side of his face while the other was held out at his side, curled into a fist as he clenched his teeth.

The other two had stopped to look at them, and Nibui hunched over a bit more, cradling her head before she spun on the sand nin. “What the heck is in your noggin?! A shit ton of bricks?!” He spun his head to face her then, Glaring at her. “HAH?! The real question should be why the hell you were so close in the first place!” Scoffing, Nibui took one hand from her face to jab a finger at him. “I wanted to see if you were laughing or not!” His mouth opened, ready for a spitfire retort when laughter washed over them. Both Nibui and Kankuro turned their heads, snapping in the direction, seething at who dare laugh at them. Sasha had just stepped out of the hotel and must have seen it because his eyes held unshed tears as he wheezed. Dai, who was slightly behind Sasha, was slightly turned away, a loose fist held up to his mouth, shoulders slightly shaking.

Hissing, Nibui rounded to face them, hands coming to her sides in fists. “Shut up, I’ll kill you! I’m not even worried about it!” Sasha just shook his head, a hand coming up to wave limply almost in a beckoning motion. “P-please..” he wheezed, hand moving to rub at the under of his eye as his gaze shifted from Kankuro to her. “I've not seen..” He broke down a bit again in chuckles, wheezing out as he tried to gain his breath. “I've not seen you get all prickly like that in so long..” He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands now, shoulders slightly shaking. “Oh man, what a treat.” Scoffing, Nibui stood up straight, making a fist and shaking it at him. “Fear is my specialty, Sasha, and I know you very well so watch yourself.” Her face was not pleasant, a scowl painted it, and her sunglasses glared and reflected in the sunlight.

At this, Sasha shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth, even Dai quieted, looking to her as she huffed and puffed. Then it was Chasa’s turn to snicker. She slowly turned to him, her shoulders slumping as she glared. “It's not funny, that genuinely hurt, you know.” He just shook his head and smiled, Kankuro could be heard grumbling behind her as her team approached, both of the boys eyeing Kankuro, Dai giving him a cold hard stare. In turn, Kankuro narrowed his eyes at them. Turning to said boy, Nibui huffed a bit. “Sorry for cracking our noggins together.” His gaze turned back to her and then he looked away, hands coming to rest in his pockets again as he let out an audible ‘hmpf’. Grinning at it, she snickered. Cute. It was then that Nibui grabbed Chasa by the back of his collar, lifting him up like a kitten. Striding forward, she met her team in the middle, holding Chasa up for Dai to grab on to. He did so and slung the little squirt onto his back like a little monkey, Chasa letting out a high pitched ‘YES’ he really did adore Dai. Turning, Nibui held her hand up in a gesture of parting before she hearded her team back into the hotel to talk strategy.

\---

The next day, they stayed in bed a little longer before heading out to the school building. The designated room they would be held in was three to one. The first part, getting past the two children was easy, Dai leading them away into another hallway. At the end stood a man with silvery hair, headband covering his right eye, and a cloth mask covering the lower half of it. Interesting. Nibui was the lead of her group, standing a bit in front of Dai and Sasha, Dai to her right while Sasha was to her left. They stopped once they reached the door and the man. Nibui eyed him, and he eyed her right on back, his hands in his pockets, and hunched over a bit.

After a moment, Nibui ducked her head to him before turning to the door, pressing a hand to it to press it open before stepping inside. Dai hesitated a moment before following, Sasha already next to her in the room, and he let it shut behind him. Naruto and the gang were right in front of the door, along with a couple of other young looking Genin. Eyes instantly went to them, Sakura and Naruto hovering around a kneeled Leaf shinobi, hair a silver grey color. The sound shinobi, hunched in front of the three, made Nibui tick.

Four long Strides and she was in the sound shinobis space, an eerie Cheshire grin on her face, the lights making her glasses gleam, the ill intent coming from her was so strong you could see the air darken a bit. The sound nin jerked back, and she took that moment to slide in between him and Sakura, though she continued to lean forward. “Neh Neh, Sound Shinobi-san, don't you know..” Her head tilted to the side and tilted down as she peeked at him, her eyes almost visible from over the top of her sunnies her grin so wide it looked like her face may split open. Her tone cheery, and happy in the worst of ways before it dropped a couple of octaves shaking a bit with her shoulders as she craned her neck even further to the side. “That it’s really fuckin’ rude to To strike out of turn when the exam for today is to be written? Neh?” 

Suddenly, to her side was Dai, his face shadowed, arms crossed over his chest with his head tilted only slightly as the cold ice of his stare beat into the hunched sound shinobi. His side was facing the other, and the genin behind them while his front faced Nibui, his head turned to look at the beetle of a ninja in front of them. “N-Nibui-san..” Sakura from behind them, Nibui’s throat clenched to trap the laughter down, not willing to let it bubble up, this resulted in small, squeaking sounds to come from her, air being sucked in through her teeth. Sasha came forward then, placing a hand on Nibui’s shoulder while he used the other to pat at Dai’s chest. His smile was tight as he looked at the sound shinobi.”Now now, there's no reason to get worked up, let's all calm down.”

The sound shinobi took a good four strides back before he cleared his throat, and turned. Instantly, the ill intent coming from Nibui dispersed, and she turned, her smile calming down, and shrinking, though there was still a buzz to her. Looking at the pink haired Girl, she shook her head. “Don’t start things you are not prepared to finish,” her head turned to look to Naruto. “You should watch your mouth, I could hear you from out in the hall. Think before you speak, it could not only put you but your teammates at risk. It's selfish.” With that, she turned back around and strode into the hoard of other shinobi. They had only been going for a couple of seconds before a cloud of smoke appeared, the instructor of this exam stood at the front, behind him many shinobi from the leaf. After he spoke, everyone took to their seats, away from their teammates. 

The test and rules were explained, and Nibui narrowed her eyes, Information gathering, cheating, basically, without being caught. Unfortunately, Nibui didn't think she would need to in the first place, though she worried about Dai, she was sure he would pull through though. The point system was a bit troubling, but it would be fine. The sentinels were something she was eager about, and a glance to her side she found a familiar face that was eyeing her row. A toothy grin came to her face as she leaned forward, staring at the gate guard as hard as possible to get him to look over. After a moment, he did, and Nibui lifted an arm up, resting her elbow on the table in front of her while resting her chin in the heel of her hand. The other coming up to wiggle her fingers at him in a wave.

Kotetsu’s brows rose up, eyes kind of squinting as his mouth went from a smirk to a pursed squiggly line. Basically shouting ‘stop looking at me you strange child’ The hand that was holding her head up moved to rest in front of her lips as she snickered, shoulders shaking slightly. Her attention was briefly taken back to the front, and they had an hour to finish. That was plenty of time, maybe, if she finished beforehand, she could take a nap. By the time she looked back to Kotetsu, she slumped, he was already scanning the row again.

Turning back to her paper, she flipped it over when the timer started, quickly reading over everything before her eyebrow twitched a bit, everything was so hypothetical, each and every question. Taking a deep breath in and a slump to her shoulders, she got to it, writing down in an almost overly detailed script. She would need to wait for that final question, but until then, she could take a light nap. Quickly, she flipped her paper over. Setting her pencil down, she moved to cross her arms, taking in a deep breath, she looked up at the clock as she leaned back. She had taken up twenty-two minutes of her time. With a grumble she leaned ba+ck in her chair, scooting down it a bit before letting her head fall forward, chin resting against her chest as she closed her eyes for a snooze, she had another solid forty minutes for it, so that was a plus.

As she let her mind fade a bit, she found people being called out to leave the room as they failed it, and all she could do in response was snuggle deeper into her chair and arms, tucking her lower face into her over jacket. Hopefully, Dai and Sasha did okay. As the clock continued to tick on by, Nibui was starting to slowly fall sideways in her chair before it was announced that it was time for the final, tenth question. Nibui jolted up a little bit, uncrossing her arms to push herself back up into her chair properly before covering her mouth with a hand as she yawned. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she let it out as she scooted forward to pay attention. They were given the option to cop out and leave or stay and potentially fail. Nibui flipped her paper back over, before she crossed her arms over her chest again, and sat back, waiting. People rose up and left, a slow trickle as they did so.

The trickle was stopped, however, when Naruto raised his hand and then slammed it down onto his desk as he stood. And gave a speech that had nibui lifting her brows, The instructor taunted him a bit after, but Naruto just sat down and crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. Maybe. Nibui thought, maybe he wasn't so bad after all. The instructor gave all of them a glance over, making a final run before he smirked. They had passed, that stressor about choosing to stay or go was the test for it. Nibui took in a deep breath before she groaned, letting her head fall back before leaning forward and slamming her protected forehead against the desk with a loud thud.

That was a ton of bullshit and boring. “How dull is that..” She let out a disappointed breath, really, she almost felt like crying, this was supposed to be hard, and they had passed easily, like a sharp blade over smooth, glossy ice. Sakura stood, demanded about the tenth question, and Ibuki started what she had already come to conclusion on, the tenth question was a test hidden in the test, to stay or go. And bless Temari, shouting out what Nibui wanted to know, if all of that writing was a waste or not if it was, she would rip her paper to shreds and eat it. At his response, on how it was for information gathering, Nibui picked her head up a couple inches before slamming it back down onto the table, and then repeated four more times, each hit getting stronger and stronger, her hands uncrossing to grip onto the edge of the desk to give her more leverage by the second one.

The only thing that stopped her, was a firm grip on her shoulder, and she sat up all the way, even leaning back some before slamming her head down against the table, and then staying there. Her voice slightly mumbled as she spoke. “You are kidding, right? I didn't need to try and gather information, it wasn't hard enough to have me try and stretch my information gathering skills at all, why? I was so looking forward to a mental challenge and this is what I got, are you kidding me? I slept most of the time and the last question was my only hope and you killed it, ahh haaa, how dull.” She let her head turn to the side so her cheek was pressed to the desk, her glasses shifting just a bit as she looked at who still had their hand on her shoulder. He was in a green jumpsuit, a red headband tied to his forehead with a black bowl cut, bushy brows, and big, wide eyes that reminded her of a frog, he was adorable, looking at her with determination, and concern. Shrugging off his hand, she sat up, before leaning back in her chair, arms hanging limply off to her sides. What a load of bull, really.

Ibuki ignored her, only taking a small pause before continuing, making a heartwarming speech that she only paid half attention to, letting her head fall back and swivel around to look for Dai and Sasha, both were listening, though Dai did spare her a look and shake his head. Whatever, she was upset, leave her be. The next moment had her jolting up though, and she felt her muscles twinge at the sudden shift from completely limp to tight with surprise. A woman now stood in front of the class after crashing through the window with a banner, and Nibui wanted to scream, but simply grabbed onto the edge of the desk, the boy next to her looking to her from the side of his eye.

Though, as the conversation moved, she perked up at the mention of how soft Ibuki was and she tuned in more, the promise of this next test being harder, and how half of them would be cut down made her relax, her mood lifting at it. With that, they were excused. The information would be given tomorrow. Standing, Nibui heaved a sigh before turning to look at Dai and Sasha, as they came forward to meet up with her. The green boy walked with her to the aisle, most likely to wait for his team too. Though he turned to look at her once again. Looking to him, she raised a brow in question. Hands limp at her sides, his lips pursed before turning to her completely, his brows furrowed and his eyes seemed to light up with flame as he leaned to her a bit, and she leaned forward in response, Cheshire grin coming to her face. This was new, no one ever did this willingly before. With a cock of her head, he spoke. “Hello, My name is Rock Lee, Please,” He stuck a hand out, and she looked at it for a moment, all wrapped up in bandages. “Tell me your name so that I may remember it!” Her grin widened a bit, and her brows lifted a bit as she looked back up to his face. Bringing her hand up, she lightly took hold of it, deliberately making her movements slow, even grabbing onto his hand all the way, though he moved with her at her speed. What a hidden treasure, he was.

“Nibui Kyōhaku, Pleasure to meet you, Lee. I look forward to seeing more of you.” She leaned forward to him more, and he was only a bit taller than her, around Kankuro’s height. He nodded his head enthusiastically, though was suddenly standing straight as their hands were separated. A girl with buns stood in front of Nibui now, pushing Lee back a bit, while a boy with long, dark brown hair pulled into a low ponytail stepped forward between the other two and her. His eyes a pale rosemary color with no pupil, his face contorted into a distasteful glare as he looked at her. Grinning even wider, Nibui tilted her head at him, before dipping her head down, Dai appearing behind her, and looming over her looking down at the boy. A moment later and Sasha was at her side, smiling cheerfully. Humming, Nibui lifted up, letting out a sigh before moving to walk by them to get to the door and head back to the hotel.

As she passed Lee, she lifted a hand, wiggling her fingers as a goodbye before continuing. Sasha humming. ”You sure are a handful, you know that?” Nibui let out a chuckle, turning her head to look at him. “As true as that may be, I'm also an ace player, so you can't complain too much, Sasha.” He grumbled and pouted but still smiled at her soon after. “Yeah, I wouldn't really have you any other way.” Her grin changed, seeming to sweeten at him, loosing its creepy ledge as she leaned over, punching his shoulder lightly. He clutched his shoulder and hunched over, yelling out in pain, and Nibui shook her head. “Stop being a drama queen, we need to go eat food, and then get some rest for tomorrow.” Sasha stood upright again, and he nodded his head to her before looking to Dai. “Also, Sasha,” he turned back to look at her, brow raised in question. “Don't let Chasa keep you up, your our healer, we need you at the top of your game, understand?” her voice was light but serious, and Sasha in turned, straightened up a bit and nodded his head. “You got it, boss.” Nibui sighed and shook her head lightly. She loved her team.

**Author's Note:**

> I got the inspiration to write this after reading and falling in love with the fic Tsundoku by CherFleur. I highly recommend to go and read it, its such a masterpiece and just, so good. 
> 
> Hopefully, I'll update this somewhat regularly, once a month or so. 
> 
> Please tell me what you think, or if there are any spelling mistakes, feedback would be just wonderful! I hope I get everyone's personalities right. I'm scared I don't so I try and avoid speaking between characters, but this fic is where I wanna smash that insecurity to the ground.
> 
> Anyways! thank you for reading! `u'


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